Distribution and delivery box foe post offices



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1. B. VAN GAASBEEK.

DISTRIBUTION AND DELIVERY BOX FOR POST OFFICES. No. 328,826. Patented 0ct. 20, 18 85 WITNESSES: INVENTOR Balm/an )Qn/ Q'ZWFZeE/ZZ. QM MW BY Mam WW ATTORNEYS N, PETEIIS. mm-mm u ner, Wnihinglon, u. a

(No Model.) 2 sheets- -sheet 2. B. VAN GAASBEEK. DISTRIBUTION AND DELIVERY BOX FOR POST OFFICES.

No. 328,826. Patented-001;. 20, 1885.

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mi on H Q; INVBNTOR Baal man 7a n y'z zafiaef WITNESSES:

M ATTORNEYS UNHED Smarts ATENT t rrent BEEKMAN VAN GAASBEEK, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK. I

EilSTRlEUTlON AND DELIVERY BOX FOR POST QFFEGES,

SEEEUIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 328,826, dated October 20,1885.

Application filed January 2, 1883. Serial No. 80,649. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Brennan VAN GAAS- BEEK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Vernon, in the county of WVestchester, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Distribution and DeliveryBoxes for PostOffices; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. My invention relates to improvements in distribution and delivery boxes for postoflices, whereby greater facility and accuracy are secured in distributing and delivering mailmatter than can be obtained by means of the arrangement heretofore used or known.

My invention consists in so constructing and arranging distribution or delivery boxes for post-offices that the letter-boxes are arranged in series vertically and horizontally equal that is to say, the letter-boxes along the horizontal series or row being ten in number, the lcttenboxes along the vertical series are also ten in number-so that, the letter-boxes being equal in size, there are ten horizontal rows or series and ten vertical rows or series, making one hundred letter-boxes in the assemblage. Such an assemblage I call a ward. That face of the ward which is presented toward the public is to be covered, for convenience and safety, with glass, as is now done in postoffice boxes, and marked with numbers 1, 2, 3, the, opposite the different letter-boxes, run ning in rows horizontally, ten in arow. The interior side or face of the ward is not num bered, but is so constructed as to enable one to locate with readiness any individual letterbox that maybe called for by visitors. Thus, for example, the upper horizontal row of letter-boxes and the right-hand vertical row of letter-boxes are bordered by heavy moldings or by colored lines or equivalent devices, so as to make lines of demarkation, which enable the eye readily to distinguish them from the adjacent rows. In like manner one of the intermediate horizontal rows of letterboxes and one of the intermediate vertical rows of letter-boxes are bordered by moldings or by colored lines or other devices, so as to distinguish them from the adjacent rows. These lines of demarkation assist the post master in finding the location of the several letter-boxes, and they enable him to dispense with the use of numbers on the interior faces of the distribution or dcliveryboxes.

There may be as many wards as the business of the post office requires, each ward consisting of an assemblage of one hundred letter-boxes arranged in the method above explained. WVhere there is more than one ward,the wards themselves are distinguished from each other on their inner faces in the following mannerthat is to say, the primal ward may be marked by the character 0, (zero,) the next by the character 1, the next by the character 2, and so on, the wardO comprising all letter-boxes from 1 to 100, both inclusive, the ward 1 comprising all letter-boxes from 101 to 200, both inclusive, and so on. The exterior of the several wards will show to the public the numbers of the several letter-boxes arranged so that they extend from right to left, and one can thus find his particular letter-bo.x,and can see whether it contains any mail-matter; but my invention does not consist in exposing the exterior of the lctter-boxes, nor in exposing to the public the numbers of the several letterboxes, as my invention can be carried out with the same success if the outside of the boxes were not transparent, and if the numbers were not marked on them so as to be seen from without, provided that in renting the letterboxes to individuals each individual shall have assigned to him a number or name by which his letter-box shall be designated, and by which the contents or mail matter in the box may be called for.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows two wards of letter-boxes,(marked O, 1, respectively,) the view presented in this fig ure being of the interior faces,which are presented to the officials. Fig. 2 shows the exteriors of the same wards-that is to say, the faces which are supposed to be exposed to the public, and which, for convenience ot'illustra tion, I have supposed to be provided with glass, so that the several letter-boxes can be seen, with their contents, the spaces on the glass being also numbered opposite the several letter-boxes.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

In carrying out my invention I construct a frame containing one hundred divisions or spaces, which for convenience I call letterboxes, said spaces being arranged in rows of ten,both horizontally and vertically, as shown in the drawings.

The character 0 designates a frame made according to my invention. Theletter x designates the letter-boxes into which the body of the frame 0 is divided, the divisions being such that there are ten horizontal rows of letter-boxes of ten letter-boxes each. Each such group or assemblage of boxes I call a ward, and afiix limits to the same by moldings A or colored lines or other device, so that the limits of one group or assemblage of boxes can be readily distinguished from the limits A of another group or assemblage, and to each such ward I assign a suitable number, character, or name, as 0, 1, 2, 3, 850., which attaches to it and becomes the ward number, character, or name. Then I assign to each box of each ward a proper name, choosing the names of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 8tc., in conjunction with the ward-name, by preference beginning on the left of the upper row, (referring to Fig. 1,) and naming to the right in the order of one, two, three, 820., eight, nine, ten, and progressing perpendicularly until each box in each ward has beennamed. I next name the top row of boxes in each ward units, and the right hand tier of boxes I name tens, and the remaining boxes of each ward I name one,two, three, 850., by row and tier, respectively, from top to bottom and left to right, so that the name of any row combined with the name of any tier of such remaining boxes will form the proper name of the box at the junction of the same, as shown.

To assist the eye in more readily discriminating between units row and the first row and tens tier and the ninth tier, I use the lines B O and O D, or their equivalent, and as a further help to the eye in locating junction of row and tier I use the lines, or equivalent devices, E E and F F, substantially as shown.

When this system of wards is to be used in post-offices, so as to form a partition between the inner office and the public office, the outer ends of the boxes are closed, the call-boxes with glass, and a number responding to the full name of the box, as determined by the combination of the ward-name of the ward with the proper name of the box, is placed upon the closed end of each box, that a boxholder may recognize his box by the number.

There may be as many frames or wards as are required by the business of the office, but each ward will be constructed in the same manner as already explained of ward 0, the only difference being in the designation of the ward. The second ward may be designated 1. Its numbers, if its letter-boxes are designated by numbers, and if numbered in succession, will begin with the number which follows next after the highest number of ward 0namely, 101. The following ward will be designated 2, and its numbers will begin with 201, and so on through the wards required in the office.

It is evident that by my invention corresponding characters, numbers, or names fall in corresponding positions throughout all the wards, and that the combination of the wards name with the proper name of the box will locate both the ward and the position of any box of a series, and the labor of distribution and delivery of mail-matter is greatly lessened and simplified.

My invention is applicable to other purposes besides that of post-offices.

WVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a frame or ward, such as that designated by the characters 0,1, 2, 850., containing ten rows of boxes, m, having ten boxes, 00, in each row, of separating moldings or lines B 0, GD, E E, and]? F,or equivalent devices, for mapping out or dividing the boxes .70, substantially as and for the purposes above described.

2. The combination, with a frame or ward, 0, 1, 2, 850., of the moldings or lines B O and O D, substantially as above described.

BEEKMAN VAN GAASBEEK.

In presence of- ANDREW BRIDGEMAN, STUART B. CARLISLE. 

